Combined plastic and cardboard toy



May 7, 1963 A. N. GIARDINA COMBINED PLASTIC AND CARDBOARD TOY FiledApril 13, 1960 INVENTOR.

Andrew N. Giardina BY %zw his ATTORNEY 3,088,243 COWINED PLASTIC ANDCARDBOARD TOY Andrew N. Giardina, Leetsdale, Pa, assignor to GeneralMolds & Plastics Corp., Leetsdaie, Pa. Filed Apr. 13, 1959, Ser. No.21,971 4- Claims. (Cl. 46123) This invention relates to a plastic toyconstruction and, more particularly, to a toy made of plastic and hardpaper or cardboard, in combination.

An outstanding disadvantage of plastic toys of well known type is thatthey use a considerable amount of plastic material, therefore aresomewhat expensive. Furthermore, the smooth and imperviouscharacteristic of plastic makes it difiicult and costly to make artisticfigures or designs thereon.

An object of my invention is to provide a novel, plastic toyconstruction which is devoid of the above named disadvantages and whichis comparatively inexpensive and enables application of artistic designsthereon.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel, compositeplastic and paper toy which is easy to manufacture and assemble, alsowhich is rugged and has comparatively long life.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from a study of thefollowing description taken with the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a plastic toy dog embodying cardboardpanels in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged, fragmentary view of an intermediate portion ofthe toy shown in FIG. 1 with the cardboard panels removed for thepurpose of more clearly showing the internal construction; and,

FIG. 3 is a vertical, cross-sectional View taken along line IlIl1l ofFIG. 2.

Referring more particularly to FIG. 1 of the drawing, numeral 1generally denotes a toy dog made essentially of plastic material andcomprising a contour forming strip 2 of suitable flexible plasticmaterial, such as polyethylene, which strip is continuous. Similarcontour forming strips 3 and 4 of the same flexible plastic material areused for defining the contours of the front and rear feet, likewise,similar contour forming flexible plastic strips 6 and 7 define the frontand rear legs, respectively. Each of the above described contour formingstrips has at each edge, an inwardly projecting integral extension orhead of substantially triangular crosssection, such as head '11 forstrip 2, bead 11b for strip 3, and bead 11a for strip 6, which serve asstops or ledges to firmly hold flat body panels 12, 12b and 12a,respectively, of hard paper or cardboard firmly in place. Confrontingedge portions of strip 2 can be spread apart to permit insertion ofpanel 12, in place, that is, so as to clear the bead 11. After panel 12is inserted in place, bead 11 springs back be cause of the flexibilityof strip 2 so as to serve as a stop to prevent outward movement of panel12. This same action is provided by similar beads in other parts, forexample, bead 11zz prevents the cardboard panel 12a from movingoutwardly of the leg forming strip 6, and bead 11b prevents cardboardpanel 12-11 from moving outwardly of foot forming strip 3. It is highlyadvantageous to make the fiat panels, such as 12, 12a and 12b, of heavypaper, such as cardboard, or other materials which are less expensivethan plastic yet which will allow easy drawing of features of the dog,such as his eyes, ears, body, etc.

Cardboard panels 12, 12a and 12b are, of course, very inexpensive incost as compared to panels made of plastic and present an absorbentsurface to permit easy painting or drawing of figures.

In order to hold the various panels, such as panel 12,

sates Fae M88243 Patented May 7, 1963 in place, it is necessary toprovide a plurality of support elements 10. These support elements 10are integrally molded to the contour strip 11 inwardly at spacedintervals along the entire contour of periphery of the plastic strip.Support elements 10 have ends which provide rests on which panels 12 aredirectly supported along their entire peripheries. The ends of supportelements 10 are spaced from the inner edge of head 11a by the thicknessof panel 12a. Likewise, the ends of support elements 10 are spaced fromthe inner edge of bead 11 by the thickmess of panel 11 as shown in FIG.3.

There are also support elements 10b within the body itself of the toy.For example, there are integral plastic cross strips, such as 9, each ofwhich has integrally molded on both sides thereof one or more supportelements 1012 so as to directly support intermediate or central portionsof the panel 12. Furthermore, the cross strips 9 together with strip 2form a rigid plastic framework for maintaining a predetermined contouror curvature of strip 2 and prevent outward spreading apart ofconfronting portions of the con-tour strip.

Leg and foot portions 12a and 12b respectively, are provided with metalor plastic pivots 10a and 13b in order to give the leg and footmovements simulating those of a dog. More specifically, as plasticwheels 5, having knurled peripheries, roll on the floor surfiace, theplastic integral pivots 13b carried thereby will move foot panels 12blike a crank arm, which, in turn, by means of a plastic or metal pivotalconnection with leg portions 12a, will cause rotational movement of legportion 12a about metal axle 10a as a pivot and thereby simulate walkingmovements of "a dog.

The various pivots 10a, 10c and 13b serve a dual function, namely, theyserve :as pivots for obtaining the leg movements described above,furthermore, they extend outwardly to the same extent as supportelements 10, so as to serve also as stops or support elements for panels12, as can be seen more clearly in FIG. 3, wherein axle 10a acts as adirect support for both panels 12a on each side of the dog and,similarly, plastic pivots 13b provided with enlarged end portions servenot only as pivots for the 'feet portions but as support elements fordirectly supporting the inner or body portion of panels 12b. Each of thepanels in the front and rear leg and foot portions is provided withsimilar pivotal elements which serve equally as stop elements forsupporting the various panels centrally thereof so as to maintainrigidity thereof and prevent collapsing.

As wheels 5 rotate, gear 15, rigidly mounted thereon, intermittentlyengages a leaf spring 16 so as to provide an intermittent clicking noiseas a consequence of vibration of the leaf spring. It will be understoodthat the side of the dog opposite that shown in FIG. 1 has the sameconstruction of legs, feet etc.

The above described construction of a toy dog, of course, is exemplaryas to how the present invention is applicable for making any toy havingany contour since the same principles are useful for making the bodyportion or portions of any toy, which portions are defined by contourstrips such as 2 which are provided with a lip portion throughout atboth outer edges of the strip (or one edge only) to serve as supportsfor restraining the flat cardboard from being pushed too far inside,also having intermediate cross strips, such as 9 to form a frame.

Although the panels are more easily made of fiat cardboard paper itshould be noted that in some instances they may be made of outwardlybulged or molded paper to give a three dimensional efiect to the panels,in which case of course, the various support elements must be projectedoutward enough so as to contact and directly support the panel.

3 Thus it will be seen that I have provided a relatively inexpensivecombination plastic and cardboard toy which may be made of relativelyinexpensive parts and which can be easily and quickly assembled, whichparts are firmly held-in place by an interlocking relationship be tweenthe paper and plastic portions of the toy, and which cardboardpanelsgreatly facilitate drawing thereon of body design features to makethe toy more life-like and lighter in weight.

. While I have illustrated and described a single specific embodiment ofmy invention, it will be understood that this is by Way of illustrationonly, and that various changes and modifications may be made within thecontemplation of my invention and within the scope of the followingclaims.

- I claim:

1. A toy comprising a transversely and longitudinally flexible plasticstrip forming a closed loop defining the contour of a body portionthereof of irregular outline, said strip having an inwardly projectingmolded bead portion extending along each edge portion of the strip alongthe entire length thereof, a plurality of spaced cross-strips, eachextending between and interconnecting opposite confronting portions ofsaid strip to provide a framework for maintaining a predeterminedcontour of said strip, a cardboard panel bearing an artistic design andheld within the confines of said strip by said bead portion at each edgeof said strip, and support elements rigidly secured to and projectinginwardly of said strip for directly supporting the body portions of saidpanels.

2. -A toy as recited in claim 1 wherein said support elements areintegrally molded on the inner wall surface of said strip at spacedintervals throughout the entire length or contour of the strip, saidsupport elements having opposite ends for directly supporting saidpanels.

3. A toy as recited in claim 1 wherein said cross strips areof plasticmaterial integrally molded to said strip and have integrally moldedplastic support elementsextending from both sides thereof and directlysupporting the interior surfaces of said panels. I

4. A toy as recited in claim 1 together with an axle extending at rightangles through said body portion and rigidly held with respect to saidstrip, and having axlereceiving portions defined in contour by strips offlexible plastic material pivotally mounted on each end of said axleoutside of said panels, each of said last mentioned strips having a headportion extending inwardly along the outer edge thereof, a panel ofcardboard of corresponding contour, whose peripheral portion is directlyheld by said bead portion and restrained from outward movement.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS553,958 Freeman Feb. 4, 1896 662,034 Smith Nov. 20, 1900 r 932,982Gregory Aug. 31, 1909 2,113,715 Wilcox Apr. 12, 1938 2,613,476 Metz Oct.14, 1952 2,919,919 Ebb l Jan. 5, 1960 FOREIGN PATENTS 503,223 Italy Aug.26, 1952

1. A TOY COMPRISING A TRANSVERSELY AND LONGITUDINALLY FLEXIBLE PLASTICSTRIP FORMING A CLOSED LOOP DEFINING THE CONTOUR OF A BODY PORTIONTHEREOF OF IRREGULAR OUTLINE, SAID STRIP HAVING AN INWARDLY PROJECTINGMOLDED BEAD PORTION EXTENDING ALONG EACH EDGE PORTION OF THE STRIP ALONGTHE ENTIRE LENGTH THEREOF, A PLURALITY OF SPACED CROSS-STRIPS, EACHEXTENDING BETWEEN AND INTERCONNECTING OPPOSTIE CONFRONTING PORTIONS OFSAID STRIP TO PROVIDE A FRAMEWORK FOR MAINTAINING A PREDETERMINEDCONTOUR OF SAID STRIP, A CARDBOARD PANEL BEARING AN ARTISTIC DESIGN ANDHELD WITHIN THE CONFINES OF SAID STRIP BY SAID BEAD PORTION AT EACH EDGEOF SAID STRIP, AND SUPPORT ELEMENTS RIGIDLY SECURED TO AND PROJECTINGINWARDLY OF SAID STRIP FOR DIRECTLY SUPPORTING THE BODY PORTIONS OF SAIDPANELS.